Sunday, May 31, 2009

Monday, June 1DJ Kat Fyte at Enormous Room (FREEEEEEE, 9:00, 21+)Beat Research is doing their regular Monday night at Enormous Room with resident DJs Flack and Wayne & Wax except on June 1st, Kat Fyte will be there as well, spinning some sweet glitch hop, dubstep, grime, and all things electro for you to have a great fucking time. FYI, Kat Fyte is Max Pearl, the genius behind the now defunct Under 21 In Boston and the newly created Popular Influence. This guy's got serious skills. Fun is pretty much assured. Oh, and did I mention it's free?

Tuesday, June 2Oneohtrix Point Never, Keith Fullerton Whitman & Geoff Mullen, Brendan Murray, DJ Ning Nong at Piano Factory ($5-10, 8:00, all ages)Semata Productions apparently are pretty reliable when it comes down to the wire. When one door closes, another always opens. This show is proof. Originally, Abelar Scout, Evan Miller, and Treetops were supposed to play. Which would have been amazing. Sadly, those guys had to cancel their tour but in their place, Keith Fullerton Whitman & Geoff Mullen will be collaborating again. If you've missed their last couple of shows, this is not something to keep slacking on. Together, they own the stage and make your ears weep for joy. Along with local hero Brendan Murray and ex-local still-hero Oneohtrix Point Never, with Ning Nong making sure you aren't bored in between sets, this show is going to be killer despite the last minute lineup change.

Tuesday, June 2Vic Rawlings' Sound Fountain at Weirdo Records ($5, 8:00, all ages)I couldn't tell you a thing about this Sound Fountain thing. Apparently it's been 3 years in the making and this is the debut. All I know is Vic Rawlings is the man and plays a mean electronically processed cello. I can imagine all sorts of crazy awesome things involving fountains and... sounds but your guess is as good as mine. My guess is EPIC.

Thursday, June 4Alva Noto, Byetone at Middlesex Lounge ($10, 9:30, 21+)ALL HAIL NON-EVENT. They're bringing AlvamotherfuckingNoto and Byetone to Boston. They deserve, like, 5 gold medals for that. Not that you should need an introduction to either of these guys but Byetone is one of the brilliant founders of Raster-Noton and Alva Noto is, well, basically an electronic music prodigy.

Thursday, June 4Paul Metzger, Elaine Evans, Amen Dunes, Ernst Karel at Outpost 186 (donation, 8:00, all ages)Man, it fucking sucks that this show is going on the same night as Alva Noto & Byetone because this show is going to be fucking awesome. Metzger plays a 21 string banjo. That right there sold me but I understand you might need a little more enticing. Evans does weird stuff with a pocket trumpet and a loop pedal. Amen Dunes has been getting a ton of buzz with his new album Dia out on Locust that's really really good. And Karel does analog electronic stuff. Seems like we're gonna have to make a pretty tough decision come Thursday night...

Saturday, June 6Gay Beast, Neptune at Midway Cafe ($?, 9:00, 21+)Gay Beast are a crazy noisethrashpunk band à la AIDS Wolf from Minneapolis and they're totally rad. I'm sure they put on a nasty live show but I can't say I know from experience. And Neptune is also playing which means it doesn't matter in the slightest who else is on the bill because the show is going to rock regardless.

Friday, May 29, 2009

Hunted Creatures is Ryan Emmett from Pittsburgh. You might know him from the split he did with Ophibre that I reviewed a while back and because I went to the show he played at Church (also with Ophibre). Long story short, he's a drone guy. And he's awesome.

Dusk is a pretty short tape, about 20 minutes total but I assure you it is time well spent. No dilly-dallying (still can't believe that's a real word wtf), Emmet jumps right in with "Red Satin." The tinkling and buzzing reminds me of being drugged at the dentist, hearing that drill way off in the distance, but being so gone that it sounds beautiful instead of ominous. After what seems like no time at all, the next song comes starts up in all of it's organ glory. I swear I hear angels and doves in there somewhere. Totally gorgeous stuff.

The B side has just as much sky rocketing drone as the first. "Decension/Ascension" is a wicked short track, lasting about a minute, just long enough to impress me with it's compact intensity. "Spirit Decay" is the brain buster here, making me woozy and weak in the knees from being torn in two. Synths pushing you to the edge of your sanity while hypnotizing you with their soothing relentlessness. Complete mind fucklery. Absolutely amazing.

Sucks for you that Dusk is sold out at Different Lands. You might be able to grab a copy from Emmet himself via Myspace. Or Tomentosa might still have a few left. Definitely worth seeking out because it's cheap and it's insanely good.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

This is another goody I found in the secret room at The Record Exchange. I picked it up for two reasons. 1: I've been very interested in early electronic music (pre-Moog) and this is definitely on the early side of things (1965) and 2: İlhan Mimaroğlu was on it and I knew he was the man that Keith Fullerton Whitman named his online record shop after so it had to be good.

Andrés Lewin-Richter gets the honor of the first track, although it's only a mere 3 and a half minute. It's kinda minimal stuff. Pops and clicks, echoes and jarring bleeps. Decent but nothing too special in my book.

Mimaroğlu takes the rest of the first side and it starts of with some wicked cool stuff that sounds like tape manipulation, high speed rewinding, that sorta thing. To make things really weird, he has a man reading a Stephane Mallarme poem mixed in with the rapid fire circuit bursting and stretched out robot whistling. Some bang clanking, kinda industrial sounding, very cool. His tracks alone are worth it and make me really want to check out some of his other work.

Tzvi Avni, along with being ridiculously difficult to pronounce, also made a creepy as shit song that used the vocals of his wife, Pnina. Seems like these early electro dudes were way into the "human/machine" juxtaposition. Which I have no problem with. Especially when they make songs like this that are super spastic and the vocals sound like the chorus of horror in Kubrick's 2001.

Here's some fun trivia. Walter Carlos, the guy that finishes off this split, actually had a sex change in 1972 and is now known as Wendy Carlos. Yeah, the same Wendy Carlos who did the soundtrack for A Clockwork Orange. The tracks on Electronic Music are some of the first she's ever done and they are fucking bizarre. "Variations For Flute And Electronic Sound" reminds me of some fucked up nightmare version of some things I used to be forced to listen to in music class in elementary school. And "Dialogues For Piano And Two Loudspeakers" is utter chaos. Nothing your family would ever consider music.

So I figured that, worst case scenario, I'd walk away from Electronic Music being a bit more familiar with the classical style of electronic music. Luckily for me (and you), all of the songs on here (Lewin-Richter excluded) are outstanding even disregarding the time frame. Definitely worth a listen, especially as an educational tool. If you are even slightly interested in contemporary electronic music, then consider this required listening.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Big <3 to both Ophibre and Grainger. These two guys know their shit and make some of the best drone out there right now. This is the newest split of theirs, not to be confused with either of the two before it that were released on CDs. No. 3 is a tape coming from Mirror Universe and it's a real beaut.

Ophibre's side (the "black side") is epic mind expanding doom drone. Seriously, this is some wicked evil shit. Dark and ominous. It totally reminds me of Hexxus from Ferngully. Like if Lucio Fulci remade it, this is the music that would be the prelude to Hexxus' release. It's the kind of music that has mind control powers and it makes you keep turning it up louder and louder every other minute until blood streams out your ears. Which is to say, this track fucking rules.

Flip the tape over to the blue side and you're treated to Brian Grainger's "The Descending Crystalline Hand" which is a beautifully appropriate title for such a fantastic song. Definitely a much lighter affair than Ophibre's blackness but it still retains some sort of foreboding. The static that fills the air seems like it's just the gentle wash of waves. The thick drone however is quite similar to Ophibre's except there are hints of loveliness that are absent on the black side. And at 20+ minutes long, it's epic, nay divine loveliness. An absolute majestic fire breather of glory.

I can't get enough of either of these guys. Thanks god they're so prolific. I'm glad I can get my fix whenever I need it. However, just because they release a lot of stuff doesn't degrade the quality of each individual release. Quite the contrary. As seems the be the case with every new Ophibre or Grainger release, this is some of their best work yet. Yeah, I say that a lot. But that doesn't make it not true. This is a special tape. Special because it's fucking awesome.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Whether as WYLD WYZRDZ, Navigator, or anything else, Braden McKenna always has some tricks up his sleeves. You never know what this guy's gonna do next. He's done the looped drone thing, he's paid homage to a brilliant Japanese director, and now he's gone and made the most lo-fi Navigator record yet with Bad Children. And you'll never guess who drums on a bunch of tracks. Garrick Biggs of Stag Hare. Don't even pretend like you saw that one coming.

McKenna's newest release is one of the most blown out affairs I've heard him produce. But like many other things out there at the moment, the foundation upon which the fuzz is laid is made of super catchy folk pop songs. And with McKenna's voice going to the extreme, it reminds me quite a bit of O'Death, if they decided to let go their desire of fidelity. Bad Children has a special old-timey feel to it, like it came straight from The Dust Bowl, especially with it's semi-religious themes. Throw in some classic '50s/'60s melodies and you got yourself a very unique record.

There's something special about the quality of recording on this album, too. It's not your average blown out lo-fi. No, it actually sounds like they recorded the songs properly but you're listening to it on the pair of headphones that came with your '92 Walkman. There are hints of clarity that make me question just how the fuck they recorded this.

Navigator has literally never released a bad record. This is the third and arguably best. Here's the clincher: it's free. You can download it right here. It will get a physical release in a few months, though. And trust me. This is one you'll want to grab when it gets printed up.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Monday, May 25Concord Ballet Orchestra Players, Mind Yeti, Atomfoam & Greg Sun at Charlie's Kitchen ($"cheap", 9:00, 21+) I've still yet to see CBOP and it's a fuckin shame because I just keep hearing about how awesome they are. Mind Yeti features members of B.E.A.R.D. Atomfoam is Adam of Peace, Loving and he's playing with Greg Sun of Manners. Seems like Charlie's is becoming the place for unique once in a lifetime shows with this one and last week's show with Eli Keszler and Kate Village, etc.

Saw this on Ear Pwr's Myspace. I had to use it.

Tuesday, May 26Big Digits, Fiasco, Shellshag, Ear Pwr, Thrust Lab at Church ($6, 8:00, 21+)This right here is a killer fucking line up. The little people with big fan bases are coming out of the groundwork from here to NYC and Baltimore to put on a show that is guaranteed to make you dance like a madman. Lots of electro, lots of punk, sometimes all at once. Go to this show if you want to know what it's like to have a good time. It will be better than Tyvek at O'Brien's the same night. Promise.

Wednesday, May 27Appleblim, Tanner Ross, C-Dubz at Goodlife ($5, 9:00, 21+)Everyone needs a little bit of dubstep in their life. Appleblim is a founder of Skull Disco and will be throwing down some nice skittery dub beats for you to dance to. This is his first US tour and he's only hitting up about 10 cities so you should feel very special that you get a chance to party with him. Thank Bassic for bringing him to town.

Thursday, May 28Benny Nelson, Vic Rawlings & Bryan Eubanks, Ouest at Outpost 186 ($5/10, 8:00, all ages)Benny Nelson is from Fire In The Head and Burn Ward. Kinda surprised that a guy like him is playing at the Outpost but hey. Whatever. He'll destroy whatever venue he plays. Rawlings does the cello/electronics thing and Eubanks does the sax/electronics thing. Ouest, who you should already know, is Brendan Murray, Howard Selzer, and Jay Sullivan making amazing sparse/thick static air noise. These guys just fucking rule. Gonna be an awesome show.

Friday, May 29Deflag Haemorrhage/Haien Kontra, Theft Able Lak Duo, Cave Bears at 119 Gallery ($5, 8:00, all ages)Deflag Haemorrhage/Haien Kontra is two crazy looking guys making crazy noise. Rare US tour, one of them (Mattin) played No Fun Fest and they're also playing at Gay Gardens (with Drunkdriver, Heathen Shame, & Mind Eraser) on the 30th if you can't check 'em out on Friday. But this show is going to be nuts. ID M Theft Able is collaborating with like-minded vocal weirdo Stephanie Lak. That alone will be worth it. And Cave Bears are some dudes from Turner Falls making nasty noise. Seriously, this show is going to kick so much ass.

Saturday, May 30Split/Signal - Silent films scored live by The Books, Roger Miller, Cul de Sac, Caspian, more at The Armory ($25, 6:00, 21+)Yes, it is a bit pricey. Is it worth it? Probably. A bunch of bands including The Books (!), Miller (of Mission Of Burma), Cul de Sac, and Caspian, will be performing new music to create a score for original films by Rich Remsberg, VJ Dziga, Handcranked Productions, Bryan Deblasio, Michael Maraden, and more. Lots of awesomeness happening. Very unique. Not something you'll be able to see again any time soon. Oh yeah. Free beer, too.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

This is a video that you, as a fan of Anti-Gravity Bunny, need to watch. Christopher Tignor is one of the leading members of the group Slow Six and he recently put out his debut solo album, Core Memory Unwound, on Western Vinyl. "Cathedral (Part 2)" is the closing track and it's an elegant ambient piano drone similar in sound to Eluvium or Stars Of The Lid (stfu I know they mostly use guitars). The video, directed by Alexander Turnquist, is the perfect visual companion to the song, very abstract, a study on color and line, with glimpses into recognizable real world scenes. Absolutely gorgeous.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

There's something about noise that seems very subjective. In fact, the first AGB post was about that very topic. But what I mean here is that if you are a noise artist and create music using a specific something as inspiration, there's a great chance that it won't come through to the listener. Not that I think that's a bad thing. Not at all. A musician needs inspiration and it shouldn't matter whether the listener knows about it. But I'd say on our end, it's little more than an aside, something to read in the liner notes and think "Oh hey, cool, this album was inspired by the work of Francis Bacon." Traveling is supposed to be created with the musicians keeping the idea of traveling in mind. Does that make it any better or worse? Nope. What makes this album ridiculously fucking awesome is the four dudes who are on it.

So, yeah, I almost fainted when I saw this split was coming out. Four ways are cool enough. And each of these individual guys are amazing all on their own. But holy fuck there's really an album out with Brian Grainger, German Shepherd, Millipede, andMOTH? Still kinda seems like a dream. This thing was going to be epic way before the music was even recorded.

The songs on Traveling are pretty exemplary of the respective artists. Each of them got 15 minutes worth of playtime and Grainger's 15 minutes sound like Grainger, Millipede's sound like Millipede, etc. But that shouldn't deter you, in fact just the opposite. It should leave you hell bent on grabbing a copy as what gets laid down here is some of everyone's finest work to date.

Grainger's 2 songs are some superb smoothed out gorgeous guitar drone that bring you closer to the sky. German Shepherd's takes the guitar drone in a different direction, focusing a bit more on physical notes that when contrasted with Grainger seem like straight up pop songs. And then Millipede forsakes his Zelda inspiration once again while still churning out thick rusty guitar noise with sweet hidden melodies that have you thinking Skullflower and Kevin Shields had a little baby prodigy. MOTH records multiple songs all onto one track, reminiscent of his youthful days spent listening to handfuls of tapes, forced to listen to the whole side, unable to instantly skip to a favorite song.

I kinda get the feeling that if they aren't already, the four of these guys would be best friends. They all seem to be pretty like-minded, especially when it comes to making music with a guitar. Maybe I should learn how to play guitar, too, so we can all hang out together and put out a 5 way split about how awesome we are at playing guitar.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Philly's Niagara Falls have gone through some line-up changes and their third record, Sequence Of Prophets, finds the trio of Sam, Noah, and Norman supposedly departing from the band's previous sound. But if, like me, this is your introduction to these guys, then that doesn't mean too much. All you got is a name to go on, Niagara Falls. Well, their name is kind of descriptive, but not in the white noise waterfall kind of way. More in the "we're one with the Earth" kind of way.

Sequence Of Prophets opens with "Flatlands," a track that sounds like they just put a microphone in the rainforest, teeming with insects, wind, and flutes. Flutes aren't normally found in the rainforest, I know, but just imagine this is a special rainforest, OK? The kind where it's normal to hear twirly electronics and tribal drumming. But once that track is over, the overt nature sounds are given up for more abstract and subtle ones.

For the most part, Prophets is a dark synthy affair not unlike Popul Vuh. I keep imagining some awesome movie, like if David Lynch directed Ferngully. This isn't so much the soundtrack to that movie but more like the music that inspired Lynch to make it. It has an organic sound that is brings forth feelings of the supernatural and sinister. There are a couple of exceptions, however, such as "Goloka" and the second half of part one of the title track, which is super uplifting. The epic crescendos and cymbals crashes make it more like something you'd hear during one of Animal Collective's happier, more post-rocky moments.

Fuck. I was trying really hard to not mention that band that I don't even care about. The one that gets name dropped everywhere and people the world over cream themselves over when there's the slightest mention of a new song. Niagara Falls are not an Animal Collective rip-off. Maybe they occasionally share similar musical elements but shit that happens all the time. So do yourself a favor and forget I mentioned AC and head over to Honeymoon Music to drop 12 bucks on this sweet ass vinyl. It's completely fucking worth it.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Monday, May 18Night Moves, Eli Keszler, Kate Village, Dr. Oriental at Charlie's Kitchen ($5, 9:00, 21+)You should know Eli 'cause I talk about him a lot. He does live stuff with Ashley Paul and he's one half of the ridiculously great Red Horse (whose new full length just came out). Kate Village is the guitarist from The Major Stars and Heathen Shame. Dr. Oriental is the Mike from Life Partners. Night Moves is a cover band that plays classic rock stuff, mostly Bob Seger, Steely Dan, The Band, etc. This is a very unique show. Lots of solo stuff that you probably won't ever see happen in the same room again.

Nmperign & Jason Lescalleet at Brainwaves '08

Wednesday, May 20Nmperign, Tyler Wilcox & Paul Neidhardt at Outpost 186 ($donation, 8:00, all ages?)Nmperign is Bhob Rainey and Greg Kelley. I loved Kelley's solo release, Self-Hate Index, and I got to see those two guys play together along with Jason Lescalleet at Brainwaves '08 and it was brilliant. Wilcox & Neidhardt seem to be two like-minded musicians who will collectively blow your mind, especially with a description for Wilcox reading "finding inspiration in the wind through cedars and lombardy poplars, rivers, melting glaciers." Um, yeah. Go to this show.

Thursday, May 21Wolves In The Throne Room, A Storm Of Light, Krallice, Phantom Glue at Great Scott ($12, 9:00, 18+)Wolves In The Throne Room is black metal for people who don't like black metal. And people who do like black metal. So it's a win/win situation. They're fucking amazing. A Storm Of Light are quite awesome as well, as I discovered when they put out a split with Nadja that I reviewed on diskant. Krallice is guitar shredder extraordinaire Mick Barr's (Orthrelm, Ocrilim, etc) new metal band. That alone should require you to go to this.

Saturday, May 23Growing, Neptune, World Map, Long Knives at Church ($9, 8:00, 21+)Growing puts on a super hypnotic drone noise show that you won't experience anywhere else. I've seen them multiple times and it gets better each time. Neptune is opening and if you live in Boston and haven't seen Neptune yet, wtf is wrong with you? Do it already. This is World Map's first show ever. Their Myspace doesn't even have any songs on it so your guess is as good as mine. Not sure about Long Knives, if that's even their real name...

Sunday, May 24WizRock Iz Dead: A WizHop Blowout with Swish & Flick, Dumbledore, Big Whompy, MC Kreacher, DJFF, MC Remus & The Lupins, Griz-ed & Fiz-orge at The Middle East Upstairs ($10, 1:00 PM, all ages)Harry & The Potters are putting on another one of their Wizard Rock shows except this time, as I'm sure you can tell, it's not rock, it's hip-hop. I'm pretty sure this is a once in a lifetime thing and I can pretty much guarantee it'll be fun as hell even if you're not a Harry Potter fan (like me). And it's a day show, so you'll still have time to do your regular Sunday night things like watch Adult Swim (or be a lame-o and go to bed early to get a good nights rest for Monday).

Friday, May 15, 2009

Ghost Grass is the guise under which Max Lord records. I had the opportunity to see him do a live collaboration with Karlheinz and that was the first I'd heard of either of them. Lord blew my mind with his furious drumming and I knew I had to hear some of his recorded work asap. Sadly, I procrastinated in my quest for his tunes but eventually a copy of his newest tape Hydrogen came my way and man was it worth the fuckin wait.

Hydrogen is basically a synth/electronics tape with lots of live drums. In other words, TOTALLY FUCKING AWESOME. The A side begins with all out retro sci-fi mainframe meltdown for about 4 or 5 minutes until it coalesces into something your open minded jazz loving dad might call "music." It goes from more noise/less music and vice versa until it ODs on sedatives and morphs into an organic synth drone with a pulse. Absolutely beautiful, washes of thick hypnotic waves and hidden piano. A true standout of a piece unlike anything else on the tape.

Turn it over and you're welcomed by some more electronic mayhem with hardly any live percussion to speak of. I wouldn't quite call it power electronics but it's pretty damn close. When it slows things down, it turns towards the dark side with unsettling tones and menacing rumbling. In time, the pace quickens with the addition of Lord killing his drum kit and some electronic squawks all the while remaining just as foreboding but it again returns back to the minimal scariness sans drumming. The tape finishes off with the most spare and terrifying sounds offered.

I don't know if Hydrogen is anything like the rest of Lord's recorded output. But if it is, you can guarantee that I'll be picking up some more of his ridiculously limited and rarely distributed albums. Right now, this tape is only available through Lord himself at shows or you could probably contact him and ask nicely. If you give him some money I'm sure he'd send you one.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Something weird happened when Dan Deacon came on. I can hardly remember any of it because I was overcome with DANCE FEVER. The only thing that vaguely sticks in my mind is that it was the funnest night of my ENTIRE LIFE.

I'm sure my bro Ben over at Rebuilding Year will have more in depth coverage of the show if you're craving that sort of thing.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

I found this in the back room of a local record shop and almost pissed myself when I saw it. I didn't care how much it cost. It had to be mine. Luckily, it was only about 12 bucks; the vinyl and jacket were in great condition and it came with the info booklet detailing how the recordings were made so I made out like a fuckin bandit.

Most of the sounds on here aren't field recordings, they're from experiments done in the lab (insect torture included). The record was probably a teaching aid at some point. A. T. Gaul delivers scientific commentary for the duration, saying this is this bug doing this, and look how the sound changes when you do this. There are things on here that I was surprised to learn about and it could still be used for educational purposes. But that's not why I got it.

What I did was edit out (almost) all of the vocals and created one long track of insect sounds. If you were ignorant of the source of these sounds, you could easily mistake a lot of them for experimental music. The power electronics of a giant beetle stomping around, the freak folk clamor of a wasp eating meat from a fish bone, the drone of the hornet fatigue experiment, or the spastic freakout buzz of a fly caught in flypaper, but mostly it sounds like minimal ambient noise and it's fucking great. Of course, when you get to the recording of a cicada out in the field with children laughing and planes flying overhead, it brings you back to the scientific reality of what you're listening to.

This record is so awesome. You really just need to listen to it yourself. I recommend listening to it first sans vocals (which you can download above), and then head to the Smithsonian Folkways website where you can purchase it on CD or cassette (really) so you can discover what each sound is and how it was recorded. Totally worth it, trust me.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

My final test of greatness for metal of this variety is whether or not I would like to play it on Guitar Hero. Black Hell passes with flying colors. I would love to slay this beast on Expert and look totally stupid doing it.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Tuesday, May 12Peter Rehberg (aka Pita) & Marcus Schmickler at 17 Edinboro St #3 (Boston/Chinatown) ($10, 9:00, all ages?)I have no idea how long this show has been in the works but my buddy over at Popular Influence just tipped me off a couple days ago that Non-Event was hosting Peter Rehberg and Marcus Schmickler in our very own Boston. Rehberg is better known as the owner of Editions Mego, one of the most forward thinking labels out there. You also should know him as Pita, one of the names which he records under. And Schimckler is Pluramon! This show is going to be epic experimental electronic noise drone AWESOMENESS! And DJ Ning Nong is spinning in between sets. I just can't believe I'm not able to go to this.

Wednesday, May 13Dan Deacon, Future Islands, Teeth Mountain at The Middle East Downstairs ($10, 8:00, all ages)I know. Everyone and their moms know about this show. But Bromst is easily the best record I've heard all year and Deacon is touring with two amazing bands and a whole ensemble to back him up. Really surprised this show isn't sold out. Yet. That means you can still get tickets. And you should. Unless you're terrified of all ages shows at The Middle East, in which case steer clear. I'm pretty sure it's going to be worth it, though.

Friday, May 15Radio Scotvoid (DJ set), Yatagarasu (live set), Moon Climb The Wall (live set), Gaurav Mehta (DJ set) at The Gulu Gulu Cafe (Salem) (FREEEEEE?, 8:00, all ages?)This is gonna be a great show and might even be worth specifically coming to Salem for especially because there's nothing better going on in Boston Friday night. It's the first night of what is to be a series of events to promote the S.C.E.N.E Festival in Salem coming Fall 2010. It shall be a night of wonderful noisey chiptunes. I think the highlight of the evening is going to be Yatagarasu because they're on tour from Texas and those dudes just fucking rock.

Sunday, May 17Attila Vural at Third Life Studio ($12, 7:30, all ages?)Vural is on tour from Zürich and he plays some super smooth 8 and 14 string acoustic guitars. Nice, chill, slightly jazzy, and absolutely worthy of your hard earned 12 bucks.

Friday, May 8, 2009

All hail the Finnish super group! For real, Maniacs Dream features members of Avarus, Kemialliset Ystävät, my personal favorite, Fricara Pacchu, making some seriously fucked tunes so this definitely counts as a super group.

Long has it been since I've listened to a band whose name was as accurately descriptive of the music. I bet you heard the name Maniacs Dream and didn't really think too much about it. Just another name. GUESS AGAIN FOOL.

Zanzibar sounds, quite literally, like a maniac's dream. Asynchronous percussion, atonal squeals, blown out static, almost every sound seems like it's trying to break free of the "music" label. If I didn't know better, I'd say a bunch of idiots got trashed in someone's basement one night, grabbed a bunch of non-instruments, and recorded the slop that came out. But these are highly respected musicians that made Zanzibar so that means it's genius, right?

All jokes aside, this record is flat out awesome. Not especially accessible, but fucking rad nonetheless. Total free electronic tribal folk noise with little sense of direction but plenty of depth. Listen to it a dozen times and you start hearing things that weren't there to begin with.

This is a review of the vinyl reissue of the 2006 tape on Lal Lal Lal. I don't think there was any re-sequencing or added tracks or anything but I just thought I'd throw that out there. Oh, also, it's pressed on light blue vinyl with super slick packaging and limited to 450 copies so get on that shit.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Dylan Ettinger is the ring leader for El Tule Tapes and it seems to me that he's got some major skillz when it comes to makin tunes and he also gets mucho street cred for his curating with all the other tapes he's been releasing on this little label of his (like Women In Tragedy's stunning Nothing But Dreams).

Bread Of The Dead is exactly what you should be listening to right now if you live in Salem. I understand that most of you probably don't, but if your locale is lacking sun at the moment, then this tape is gonna brighten your day.

It starts out with "Pan De Muerto" where everyone's hootin and whoopin like it's Cinco De Mayo or something. Shit, I'm just realizing that I'm 2 days late with this review. Oh well. Anyway, it gets into a solid hypnotic groove that, like everything else on Bread, is completely blown out. The fidelity on this tape is utter shit and it sounds fantastic.

From "Muerto" it only gets better, from blissed out drone with skittering tambourines on "Rosa Parks" to the infinite looped rich golden melodies that Dylan wordlessly croons over on "Cross My Eyes." And that's just the A side.

Bread Of The Dead is fuckin beautiful (both sides). Ettinger knows where it's at. Groovy tunes, sweetly packaged tapes, and a super awesome label. Bread is already sold out of it's first batch, with a second one on the way. Tomentosa might have some available, though, if you just can't wait. And I'm pretty sure you can't.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Food For Animals makes some nasty hardcore glitch-hop. "Tween My Lips" is from 2008's crazy awesome Belly. The video, directed by Martin Sulzer, has a digitally bloated naked dude prancing around with his schlong hanging out. At first it looks like Chris Cunningham's Rubber Johnny but then it gets a lot less terrifyingly creepy and a lot more silly. Like, the dude eats a whole pig and then poops out the whole pig, no digestion required.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

I get this strange feeling whenever I listen to Sewer Mist that makes me feel like I’m driving a beat up Pinto through a wormhole. It has a filthy, spacey, down to earth feeling which I’m pretty sure I’ve never experienced listening to anything else before.

Monday, May 4, 2009

This is one I've been sleeping on for a while. I've been listening to it for weeks and have never been able to muster up the proper words to describe just how magically charming Hiding In The Orchard is.

Jakob Battick's been in a variety of projects including 1800s Sea Monster and Swollen Spring Violets, but unless you're from Maine, those names might not ring too many bells. He's also released some stuff under his own name, but Orchard is the first EP of all new material.

A good starting point for comparisons might be Beirut because Battick's wonderful voice kind of reminds me of Zach Condon's. The music is slow moving and very sleepy sounding; perfect for a moonlit autumn night, shuffling your feet through crunchy leaves on the forest floor. The minimal instrumentation sounds larger than you'd think it whould, making it nice and full. Still, somehow it feels like each guitar pluck and sung word is echoing throughout an open field, as if the sounds are only echoing off of each other and not physical objects.

Hiding In The Orchard is a beautifully understated record that probably won't be heard by as many people as it should be. Battick is likely destined for greatness and will one day have plenty of amazing full lengths that will be reviewed on Pitchfork and The Wire but for now, we'll just have to accept his gorgeous and humble EPs made of recycled bingo cards.

Thursday, May 7Twin Crystals, Modern Creatures, Prince Rama Of Ayodhya, Quilt at Gay Gardens (FREEEEEEEEEish, 8:00, all ages)More Prince Rama? Yes. This one goes down at Gay Gardens in Allston, and there are "mandatory donations" for all shows there. If you wanna be a dick about it, you could "donate" the spare change in your pocket but they have every right to turn you away. You should probably support the good people that are performing for you as well as those at Gay Gardens and you can do so by dropping some cash at the door or at the merch table. Especially because both Twin Crystals and Modern Creatures are on tour from Vancouver. So go have fun and be nice.

Sunday, May 10Keith Fullerton Whitman & Geoff Mullen, Eli Keszler & Ashley Paul, Double Awake at Great Scott ($8, 9:00, 18+)OH. SHIT. Can't believe this is happening. Not only are percussionist extraordinaire Keszler & Paul the sax beast joining forces again but the noisedrone masters KFW and Mullen are doing another one of their super rare live collabs. I saw them play together at PA's Lounge a few years back and I left with my mind melted. And Double Awake is opening? FUCK. This is NOT to be missed.

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DisclaimerAll of the music on this site is for promotional and sampling purposes only. If you enjoy it, please consider buying the record or going to see the band live. They will appreciate it, I promise. If you own the rights to a song on this site and you would like it removed, please contact me and I will do so as quickly as my tiny paws allow.